Switch.



No. 770,305. PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904 W. L. OBRIBN.

SWITCH.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 20, 1904.

N0 MODEL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' uveufoz Witnesses (1 Hot we 1 4/ PATENTED SEPT. 20, 190-4.

W. L. OBRIEN.

SWITCH.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 20, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

uweufoz 7% 03211272,

chm "n 5 UNITED STATES Patented September 20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,305, datedSeptember 20, 1904. Application filed June 20, 1904:. Serial No.213,387- (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. OBRIEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at N ewriver Depot, in the county of Pulaski, State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switches;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railway-switches; and it has for its object toprovide a construction wherein the usual cross-rails and frogs aredispensed with, a further object of the invention being to provide meansfor shifting the switch-rail and for holding the latter securely in itsshifted positions.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is a top plan View showing a portion of a railway embodying thepresent invention. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing theswitch-tongue in its opposite position. Fig. 3 is a transverse verticalsection through the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a portion of a railway,including maintrack rails and switch-rails. The switch-rails are shownat 5 and 6 leading from one side of the main trackway, the rail at thefar side from the switch being shown at 7 while the opposite main-trackrail is shown in two sections 8 and 8. The rails 6 and 8 meet at a sharpangle, and connected at their meeting ends is a switch-tongue 9, whichis movable to aline with the rails 8 and 8 or to aline with the rail 6and lie with its free end against the rail 7. The rails are secured uponties 1O in the usual manner, while the switch-tongue 9 is slidable uponthe ties, the movement of the switch-tongue in opposite directions beinglimited by the stops 11 and 12, lying at opposite sides of the tongueand secured upon the ties.

At opposite sides of the track are mounted horizontal shafts 13 and 14in suitable bearings, the shaft 1 1 having pulleys fixed thereon, whilethe shaft 13 is provided with winding-drums 16 of different diameters. Achain 17 is passed around each pulley 15 and beneath the rails and iswound several times around the corresponding drum 16. Each of the chainsis endless and is attached to the switch-tongue, so that as the shaft 13is rotated in one direction the chains are moved to correspondingly movethe switch-tongue to the corresponding limit of its movement. The reasonfor making the winding-drums of different diameters is that the pointsof the switch-tongue to which the chains are attached move differentdistances.

The shaft 13 is provided with a pinion 18, with which meshes agear-wheel 19, carried by a crank-shaft 20, having a crank -21 foroperating it to shift the switch-tongue.

It will be noted that in the present construction no guard-rails arerequired.

What is claimed is The combination with main-track rails andswitch-rails, of a switch-tongue movable with its free end to lieagainst the main-track rails interchangeably, a shaft at each side ofthe rails, pulleys carried by one of the shafts, winding-drums carriedby the other of the shafts, chains passing round the pulleys and drumsand wound upon the latter, said chains being attached each at one sideto the switchtongue, and means connected with the drumshaft for rotatingit.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM L. OBRIEN.

Witnesses:

R. M. T. HUNTER, JNo. S. DRAPER, Jr.

